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The Laws of Gods and Men
"The Laws of Gods and Men" is the sixth episode of the fourth season of Game of Thrones.http://winteriscoming.net/2014/03/game-of-thrones-season-4-episode-6-title-revealed/ It is the thirty-sixth episode of the series overall. It premiered on May 11, 2014. It was written by producers Bryan Cogman and directed by Alik Sakharov. Plot Summary At the Dreadfort Yara Greyjoy prepares her troops for their assault on the Dreadfort to rescue her brother Theon. She reads the letter sent by Ramsay Snow, threatening to flay all ironborn who do not leave the North. While Ramsay has sex with Myranda, Yara and her troops land and scale the walls of the castle. They enter the dog kennels where Theon is being held in a cage. Yara opens the cage, but Theon refuses to go with her, believing it is another cruel trick played by Ramsay. Ramsay and several Bolton troops enter and a melee ensues, with several Bolton and Greyjoy soldiers killed. Theon tells Yara his name has always been Reek, bites her, and cowers in his cage. Ramsay releases the Bastard's Girls and Yara is forced to retreat to her ship. Ramsay allows Reek to take a bath, as a reward for his loyalty. Ramsay now plans to assault Moat Cailin and needs Reek to pretend to be someone he isn't: Theon Greyjoy. At King's Landing In Braavos In Meereen Appearances First *Tycho Nestoris *Lhara *Goatherd Deaths Production Cast Starring *Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister *Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Ser Jaime Lannister *Lena Headey as Queen Cersei Lannister *Emilia Clarke as Queen Daenerys Targaryen *Charles Dance as Lord Tywin Lannister *Natalie Dormer as Lady Margaery Tyrell *Liam Cunningham as Ser Davos Seaworth *Stephen Dillane as King Stannis Baratheon *Alfie Allen as Prince Theon Greyjoy *Iwan Rheon as Ramsay Snow *Conleth Hill as Lord Varys *Sibel Kekilli as Shae *with Iain Glen as Ser Jorah Mormont Guest starring *Pedro Pascal as Prince Oberyn Martell *Julian Glover as Grand Maester Pycelle *Ian McElhinney as Ser Barristan Selmy *Mark Gatiss as Tycho Nestoris *Roger Ashton-Griffiths as Lord Mace Tyrell *Lucian Msamati as Salladhor Saan *Nathalie Emmanuel as Missandei *Jacob Anderson as Grey Worm *Gemma Whelan as Princess Yara Greyjoy *Finn Jones as Ser Loras Tyrell *Dean-Charles Chapman as King Tommen Baratheon *Ian Beattie as Ser Meryn Trant *Joel Fry as Hizdahr zo Loraq *Charlotte Hope as Myranda *Phillip Arditti *Rhodri Miles *Sarine Sofair as Lhara *Samantha McEwan *Michael Hough *Anthony Boyle *Conor Watters *Gian Sanghera-Warren *Mackenzie Dean Notes *This is the first episode in which absolutely none of the Starks appear, nor any of their immediate supporters (i.e. the Tullys such as Catelyn's brother Edmure and uncle Brynden, or loyal vassals such as the Umbers, or even Brienne of Tarth). Even Eddard's bastard son Jon Snow does not appear in this episode. In Season 1, Eddard was in every episode except the last, but Catelyn and his children did appear in the finale. Afterwards, one of Eddard's children would appear at least once in every episode, rotating between Robb, Sansa, Arya, and Bran (who was often accompanied by Rickon). Arya appeared in every episode of Season 2 except "Blackwater", which focused entirely on events in King's Landing, but at least Sansa appeared in that episode. In Season 3, Arya appeared in every episode except the first, but Robb, Catelyn, and Sansa did appear in the premiere. **Even if Jon Snow was disregarded, this point would still stand: of Eddard's five lawful children, at least one of them appeared in every episode from Season 2 onwards. In fact, the only episode up to this point in which none of Eddard's five lawful children appeared was Season 1 episode 7, "You Win or You Die", which Jon Snow did appear in. The episode still focused on Eddard Stark himself, and his failed attempt to stop Cersei from crowning Joffrey as king (it was also one of only three episodes to date that even Tyrion didn't appear in). **Additionally, none of the Night's Watch characters or storylines appear in this episode (as there have been a few episodes that Jon didn't appear in, but Samwell Tarly did). Margaery and Loras Tyrell appear in this episode but have no speaking lines. *In the HBO Inside the Episode featurette, Benioff and Weiss explain that Tywin's immediate and unhesitating answer of "done" to Jaime's officer is a subtle hint that this is exactly what Tywin was hoping for, if not as soon as Tyrion was arrested then as a plan he settled on long before the trial began. It is debatable whether Tywin would ever have Tyrion actually killed (if only because it might be seen as embarrassing for a Lannister to be executed), but Tywin quickly realized that he could turn the situation to his advantage, using the threat of killing Tyrion to manipulate Jaime into making such a deal. With one stroke, his hated son Tyrion will be exiled, while Jaime will be forced to accept being his heir. *It is stated in this episode that Tywin Lannister is 67 years old, though in the books, he is 58 years old at this point in the narrative. *The Free City of Braavos makes its first on-screen appearance in this episode, though it has often been mentioned since Season 1. This makes it the second of the Free Cities to actually be shown on-screen, following the introducing of the Targaryens in Pentos at the beginning of Season 1. *The brief subplot of Yara Greyjoy mounting a raid against the Dreadfort to try to rescue Theon, despite the prominence given to its setup in the Season 3 finale, quickly fails in this episode: it actually has no equivalent in the books. Theon's sister (named Asha in the books) simply thinks that Theon is dead. Moreover, the Iron Islands are on the exact opposite side of Westeros from the Dreadfort: the Iron Islands are off the west coast of the continent and the Dreadfort is far to the northeast. There are no canals. Given that George R.R. Martin has stated that Westeros is about the size of real-life South America, Yara traveling from Pyke to the Dreadfort is the equivalent of sailing from Ecuador to Venezuela, by travelling south around Cape Horn. Such a journey would take many months. Then again, the TV series has added more time to the narrative (extending it so that one season equals one year within the story): one month is stated to have passed between the Season 3 finale and Season 4 premiere, and this episode is in the later half of Season 4, so the implication might be that Yara managed to make the voyager in about two to three months. **Of course, Ramsay's letter said that he would give the ironborn until the first night of the full moon to withdraw from the North, or he would start sending them more boxes containing pieces of Theon, implying that he gave them a deadline of no more than one month. It isn't clear how much time has passed between episodes 1 and 6 of Season 4, but dialogue clearly established that Joffrey's wedding occurred about one month after the Red Wedding. **It is vaguely possible that because she was in a hurry, Yara could have sailed to the isthmus of the Neck, where the fortress of Moat Cailin is currently controlled by a force of ironborn sent there by her father in Season 2, and she and her crew could have crossed overland to reach another ironborn ship waiting on the eastern coast. But that does not appear to be the TV series's intent. *In the books, Ramsay's torture of Theon is so severe that even people who knew him before it physically cannot recognize him: he looks like he has aged forty years from the stress, his skin is pasty white from not seeing the light of the sun for over a year, he looks like a skeleton from starving in the dungeons, and Ramsay knocked his teeth out. Yara doesn't have trouble recognizing Theon in this episode, though admittedly it would be difficult for practical effects to fully portray this (that, and in these circumstances, Yara actually forced a Bolton soldier with a blade to his throat to specifically point out which cell Theon was in). *Mace Tyrell has been named the new Master of Ships. Stannis was actually the Master of Ships under Robert, but after the war broke out, Cersei simply left the office functionally vacant for over a year, until Tywin resumed his office as Hand of the King. Mace's position is in-part due to the fact that, with the destruction of the Royal Fleet at the Battle of the Blackwater, the Redwyne Fleet is now the only large naval force available to the Lannisters - and House Redwyne are loyal vassals of the Tyrells (in fact, Olenna Tyrell herself was born Olenna Redwyne). **Oberyn asks what specific office on the Small Council he will be given, but the matter is not addressed. Of the seven positions on the council, Tywin is Hand of the King, Jaime is Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, Varys remains as Master of Whisperers, Pycelle remains as Grand Maester, and now Mace is Master of Ships. Of the remaining two offices, Tyrion has been stripped of his position as Master of Coin, though no mention is made of who the Master of Laws is. In the books, Tywin actually appointed his younger brother (and most trusted lieutenant) Kevan Lannister as Master of Laws after they arrived in the city, but the character has not reappeared in Season 3 or Season 4 up to this point (the actor may be unavailable). In the books, Tywin does not bother to give Oberyn a specific office, but has him sit on the council as an advisor without specific duties. *Oberyn Martell mentions that he spent five years in Essos. In the books, this occurred in Oberyn's youth, after he killed Lord Yronwood in a formal duel. House Yronwood called for Oberyn's blood, so Oberyn was sent abroad to the Free Cities for several years until tempers at home cooled down: none dared to call his travels "exile", which is what it functionally was. In that time Oberyn served in several sellsword companies, and would have seen Unsullied soldiers in battle. *This episode corrects a small point about Varys: in the Season 3 episode "And Now His Watch is Ended" he explained to Tyrion that as a youth he was a slave who was part of a troupe of actors who traveled around the different Free Cities, until he was sold to the sorcerer who castrated him in Myr. That episode left out the detail from the books that Varys was actually born as a slave in Lys, and Myr just happened to be the city where his acting troupe was at the time. This episode confirms that Varys is a Lysene, as Oberyn points out that he recognizes his hint of an accent. In the books *The episode is adapted from the following chapters of A Storm of Swords: **Chapter 66, Tyrion IX: Tyrion's trial occurs with numerous witnesses accusing him of the crime. **Chapter 70, Tyrion X: Tyrion demands a trial by combat once Shae exits. *The episode is adapted from the following chapters of A Dance with Dragons **Chapter 2, Daenerys I: Daenerys meets petitioners of Meereen including the noble Hizdahr zo Loraq and a shepherd who claims that Dany's dragons devoured his sheep and his child. **Chapter 9, Davos I: Davos asks Salladhor Saan for ships once again. *Shae's appearance in the episode follows the pattern of the books. However, her motives seems more based on revenge, and hatred for being rejected. In the books she is more cynical and did not care about Tyrion. Memorable quotes Tyrion Lannister'' - ''"I demand a trial by combat." Image gallery References Category:Season 4 Category:Season 4 Episodes